By David Lantz
On April 18th and 19th , NASCAR returned to Rockingham Speedway for the first time in over a decade, once thought to never host the series again.
Sitting in Rockingham, North Carolina, just an hour west of Charlotte, the track was labeled by fans as dead just a handful of years ago. As many hoped that NASCAR would return to ‘The Rock.’
Finally, the wait is over as NASCAR engines roared to life at Rockingham with three series racing over two days. The Craftsman Truck Series raced on Friday evening, while ARCA East and Xfinity series raced throughout Saturday afternoon.
At the ThunderFest fan event in downtown on Thursday, drivers Austin Vaughn and Thomas Annunziata expressed their excitement to be part of the return.
“I’m excited to be racing here, it’s only my third race in an ARCA car. I’ve raced at DuQuoin, Five Flags, and now Rockingham,” said Vaughn, driving for his family-owned No. 34 Safford Trading Company Ford in the ARCA East Series.
If there was a best dressed award for drivers at the autograph session, Annunziata would have won that. Wearing a bright Pink sports coat, the driver of the No. 70 Cope Family Racing Chevrolet was ecstatic to be part of the return.
“11/10, [I’m] happy to be here racing at Rockingham,” said Annunziata. He came into the weekend with only three starts in the Xfinity Series this year, with a best finish of 28th at Bristol the week prior, hoping for better luck at The Rock.
Friday’s Truck race didn’t disappoint, as fuel mileage would determine the winner. Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet for McAnally Hilgemann, saved just enough for victory. This broke Tyler’s six year winless streak, last being at Kentucky Speedway on July 11, 2019.
Saturday’s double header featured both the ARCA East and Xfinity series. The ARCA race was 125 laps, with Brent Crews, cruising to his second win of the year after dominating by six seconds, leading all but four laps over teammate William Sawalisch.
Shortly after, the Xfinity Series took to the track for the first time since 2004 with a 250 lap race that saw Jesse Love in Victory lane. Love conserved enough fuel and survived a chaotic ending in overtime to win driving his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet. Teams had to stretch fuel mileage towards the end, causing many pileups and accidents late in the race.
Unfortunately, Love’s car failed post-race inspection due to a violation in the rear of the vehicle. Sammy Smith was declared the winner, in his No. 8 PILOT Chevrolet for Jr. Motorsports, after originally finishing second.
This historic weekend was met with positive reactions from everyone all around and looks like NASCAR Cup could return to “The Rock” in the near future.
